Pete Samu

Peter Samu (born 17 December 1991) is an Australian professional rugby union player who is currently a loose forward for the Brumbies in Super Rugby. He has represented Australia in international rugby. After several seasons playing in Australia and England, Samu gained his professional career breakthrough in New Zealand, firstly with Tasman in the Mitre 10 Cup and then the Crusaders in Super Rugby.[1][2][3]

Pete Samu
Full namePeter Samu
Date of birth (1991-12-17) 17 December 1991
Place of birthMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Height185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight102 kg (16 st 1 lb; 225 lb)
SchoolCranbourne Secondary College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker, Number 8
Current team Brumbies
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2013 Randwick 13 (35)
– Moorabbin Rams ()
Correct as of 16 July 2022
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–2017 Tasman 40 (65)
2016–2018 Crusaders 33 (40)
2018–2019 Canberra Vikings 10 (10)
2019– Brumbies 67 (70)
Correct as of 16 July 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018– Australia 22 (5)
Correct as of 16 July 2022

Early life

Born in Melbourne, Australia, Samu attended Cranbourne Secondary College.[4] He first made his way in rugby playing for Moorabbin Rugby Club in his juniors before moving interstate to Brisbane and playing a handful of games in the first grade for Sunnybank Rugby. Samu played minimal first grade rugby in Brisbane, due to Wallabies (at the time) Jake Shatz and Liam Gill.

Professional career

In 2012, Samu moved to Sydney to play for Randwick where he played majority of his rugby in premier division for the Shute Shield. He played a strong season in 2012 and won the most valuable player of the year award for the Shute Shield competition. Samu also had two-year stint in England playing local club rugby for St. Ives from 2010. He later moved to New Zealand in 2014 and began playing for Waimea Old Boys in the Tasman club rugby competition.[3]

Tasman and Crusaders

Samu first made the Tasman squad for the 2014 ITM Cup and helped himself to 4 tries in 9 games as the Mako reached the competition's final before losing out to Taranaki. The following year, the men from Nelson reached the semi-finals of the 2015 ITM Cup with Samu once more playing 9 times while this time bagging 5 tries before scoring 3 times in 11 games in 2016 when the Makos were again defeated finalists, this time going down to Canterbury.[5]

Samu played for the Crusaders Knights development team in 2015 and was named as their player of the year before being promoted to their senior squad ahead of the 2016 Super Rugby season.[6] With competition for places tough among a star-studded Crusaders line-up which featured the likes of Kieran Read and Matt Todd, it was perhaps unsurprising that Samu only made 4 substitute appearances during his debut season. He was retained in the squad for 2017.[3]

Wallabies and Brumbies

On 29 May 2018, Samu joined the Brumbies for the 2019 Super Rugby season with the possibility of a Wallabies call-up.[7][8]

Statistics
As of 25 December 2016 [5]
SeasonTeamGamesStartsSubMinsTriesConsPensDropsPointsYelRed
2016Crusaders404931000500
2017 Crusaders 15 7 8 622 5 0 0 0 25 0 0
2018 Crusaders 14 5 9 547 2 0 0 0 10 0 0
Total331221126280004000

List of international test tries

As of 3 July 2022[9]

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result Score
1  England Perth, Australia Optus Stadium 2022 England rugby union tour of Australia 2 July 2022 Win 30 - 28

References
  1. "Peter Samu Tasman Player Profile". Makos Rugby. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  2. "Crusaders 2017 Squad Guide" (PDF). All Blacks.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  3. "Pete Samu Crusaders Player Profile". Crusaders Rugby. Archived from the original on 28 January 2018. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  4. RA & the private schoolboy image ABC News 14 June 2023
  5. "Peter Samu itsrugby.co.uk Player Statistics". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
  6. "Crusaders sign Makos flanker Pete Samu". Makos Rugby. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  7. "Australian-born Crusaders flanker Peter Samu signs with Brumbies, set for Wallabies call-up". Daily Telegraph. 29 May 2018.
  8. "Rugby-Samu joins Brumbies ahead of mooted Wallabies berth". Reuters. 29 May 2018. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  9. "Pete SAMU profile and stats". all.rugby. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
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